Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s combination of real-time combat with pause, harnessing the classic’s ATB in unique ways, resulted in some of the most enjoyable RPG combat out there. It’s hard to believe it could get better, but Rebirth upped the ante significantly, especially with new Synergy Attacks (which first debuted in Episode INTERmission).
By comparison, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation doesn’t add too much to these established systems (not counting FITS, new party members and mounted combat). However, director Naoki Hamaguchi told PlayStation Access that there are three-person Synergy Attacks. If that sounds utterly broken, well, it would be, which is why there’s a catch.
“Talking about this with [battle director Teruki] Endo-san, obviously there are normal abilities. Synchronized abilities, the Limit Breaks, and so we’d be adding to that as well. And if we added in the three-person Synergy Attack, then obviously that’s going to be the strongest one at the top of the tower, and everyone’s going to want to use that, which will make battles monotonous.
“So we decided not to make it something that could be used at any time. Instead, we decided to make it more dependent on the gameplay experience, where there may be a particularly emotional or dramatic moment. So I hope you’ll be looking forward to when they may pop up.”
Making them feel more special makes sense, and Final Fantasy is no stranger to such dramatic moments. Remember the climactic battle against Sephiroth, which involved using a special move (a moment recreated in stunning fashion with Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children’s climax)? Of course, when you start thinking about memorable combat moments with three characters, the possibilities become almost endless.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 7th, 2027, for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2. It’s a massive adventure and could easily take over 100 hours to complete, per Hamaguchi, but that’s only the beginning, as multiple playthroughs are apparently required to see everything. And that’s not even getting into the post-launch expansions that focus on Sephiroth and Vincent Valentine.
